Page 13 of Blood Pack Beginning (Pack #5)

CHAPTER TWELVE

As they travelled back to the compound, they came across Amir, who’d been watching the side gate instead of the tunnel. A good sportsman, Amir shook Diego’s hand in congratulations and headed off—most likely to hit something. Diego figured he’d have to wait to collect his reward since Sasha had to attend to business, but to his surprise, she insisted he stick with her when she called Anabel in for questioning.

“Shouldn’t Thaddeus be the one interrogating?” he asked as they waited in her boss’s office.

“He’s gone into the city to conduct business, and I don’t want to waste time. If we have a traitor, then they must be unearthed.”

Diego sat on the edge of the desk. “And then what?”

“There is only one punishment for betrayal,” her grim reply.

When a knock came at the door, Diego slid off the desk and stood behind Sasha in a vigilant stance for a woman who didn’t need protection.

“Come in,” Sasha called out.

Anabel entered with a smile. “You rang?”

“Please have a seat.” Sasha’s formal reply brought a crease to Anabel’s forehead.

“Is something wrong?”

“There’s been an incident, and I have to ask you some questions.”

“Fire away.” Anabel appeared relaxed as she sat in the chair across from the desk.

“Where is the Lycan assigned to you named Dylan?”

“Gone.” Anabel didn’t hesitate or bullshit. “And it’s strange because I thought things were going rather well with him. He was eager to train and immediately pledged his loyalty to our new pack and Thaddeus.”

“You saw him go?”

Anabel shook her head. “No. He stopped showing up for our training a few days ago and, when I went by his room to see if he was ailing, found it empty of his things. I assume he left during daylight hours.”

“Did you check the security footage?”

The query brought a frown to Anabel’s face. “No. I was told by Thaddeus to not force the Lycans to stay, as he only wanted those loyal to our cause to remain. Given he placed a geas on Dylan preventing him from speaking of what he saw here, I thought nothing more of it. He’s not the first recruit to depart without notice.”

“How many have left?” Sasha inquired.

“A few. Although none who were as seemingly loyal as Dylan.”

“Do you remember an applicant named Brian from last week?”

“Yes. Burly, angry fellow. I tried having a conversation with him, encouraging him to give us a chance. However, he was rather adamant about not remaining, claiming he wouldn’t work with monsters.” Anabel’s lips twisted. “Apparently, some would rather take their chances with the Lycan Council’s rogue hunters than with our Blood Pack.” Anabel used the new name for their mixed group and showed no sign of being uneasy about being allied with Lycans.

“What did you do with Brian when he wouldn’t cooperate?”

“Left him in the intake room for Thaddeus to handle. I didn’t set him free, if that’s what you’re asking. I know better than to set someone loose who knows so much about us. Why all the questions, though?”

“When was your last patrol in the forest?” Sasha asked instead of answering.

“Two weeks ago.”

“Two?” Sasha’s turn to frown. “Aren’t you supposed to be on rotation?”

“I was, but Jorge offered to take my turn if I’d train his Lycans. He’s been less than keen about our new allies.”

“You haven’t been in the forest at all of late?”

She shook her head. “No, why?”

“We found some bodies, drained of blood, and at least two were last seen in the compound.”

The claim widened Anabel’s eyes. “You found Dylan and Brian.” She hastened to add, “I didn’t kill them.”

“Can you provide proof?”

Panic flared Anabel’s nostrils. “I swear, I would never. It is forbidden to drain the living.”

“If you’re a traitor, then your word means nothing.”

A panicked Anabel threw herself to the floor on her knees. “I know how this looks, but I would never betray our leader, Thaddeus. I owe him my life. I believe in what he’s trying to accomplish.”

Diego leaned down and murmured, “I don’t think she’s lying.”

“We have to be sure.” Sasha’s gaze narrowed. “Is there anything you can think of that might exonerate you?”

“I’ve not left the compound in two weeks, as I’ve been busy with my, and Jorge’s, recruits. Check the security camera footage.”

“I will. While I try and verify your claim, will you agree to place yourself in solitary?”

“Of course.” Anabel stood and held herself ramrod straight.

They accompanied Anabel to the panic room without issue.

“You’ll have to stay here until I confirm what you’ve told me,” Sasha murmured, standing by the open door.

Anabel entered the room and took a seat, the picture of calm. “Do what you must. I am innocent.”

The door shut and locked behind her, and Sasha grumbled. “If she’s lying, she’s a damned good actress. Not to mention, of all the flock, she’s the one I would have least suspected.”

“She also doesn’t seem sloppy or dumb. I mean, getting rid of two Lycans she was last seen with? Smells like a frame job to me.”

“Let’s go find Pierrot.”

“Are you sure we can trust him?” Diego questioned. “’Cause if Anabel didn’t kill those wolves, then someone else in the compound likely did, and Pierrot would be the guy who could cover it up, seeing as how he’s in charge of all the security shit.”

“He’s in charge because there is no question of Pierrot’s loyalty. He’s been with Thaddeus nearly as long as I have. He would rather step into the sun than do anything that would upset our master.”

“Hope you’re right,” Diego muttered.

They found Pierrot sitting in front of computer screens, a pair of Lycans by his side. Jules and Francois. They’d arrived only a few days after Diego and the boys. A good pair. They’d been ousted from their pack for the simple fact of being gay. Given the ratio of females to males, you’d think having a few that wouldn’t vie for a woman as a mate would be a good thing. However, even though it wasn’t against any Pack Laws, some short-sighted alphas still saw it as an aberration and culled those members.

“Hey, Sasha. I’m still digging for that info you asked for. Actually, the boys here are. We’ve got possible situations in Italy, England, and Texas.”

“Does Thaddeus know?”

“Yeah. He’s got us still digging, but he also reached out to some contacts in those areas to give them warning.”

Probably a better idea than sending Sasha into another vamp’s territory. Not to mention, she didn’t want to stray far from Thaddeus and leave him with one less loyal ally while they had a mysterious pile of bodies in the backyard.

“I’m not here about ghouls, but something else.” Her grave tone had Pierrot pinching his lips.

“Boys, why don’t you go wrangle yourselves a meal while I chat with Sasha?”

“Yes, sir.” The young men scurried from the room, and Pierrot sighed.

“I can’t believe they call me sir. It makes me feel so old,” complained the man who didn’t look more than twenty-five, though he’d spent many more years walking the earth.

“You are old,” Sasha pointed out.

“True, but it’s still hurtful,” Pierrot complained.

“How’s your training going with them?”

“Well. They already had decent computer skills, so training them to be my assistants hasn’t been all that hard. Soon, we’ll be able to have them switching on and off during the day, which means better and quicker assessments of things happening that might affect us.”

“You mean like traitors killing our recruits?”

Pierrot stared at her so long he could have been a statue before slowly saying, “I think you need to explain.”

It took Sasha only a moment to recap what they’d found in the woods and their interview with Anabel.

Pierrot shook his head. “Bel wouldn’t do something like that.”

“That’s what I’d like to think, but the evidence is damning.”

“It’s circumstantial, at best. I agree with Diego. Seems like an attempt to deflect blame. Easy enough to clear up. I’ve got cameras watching every single way in and out of this place, and that includes the walls. We’ll soon see what Bel did or didn’t do,” Pierrot boasted, only to be cursing minutes later.

“What the fuck?” A video played, scrolling at ten times the usual speed, showing one of the exits into the forest. An exit that should have shown some activity, but nothing on the screen ever changed. Not one person used the door, despite him playing several days’ worth of footage.

Diego leaned close to Sasha. “Is it me, or does it seem to be replaying the same day over and over?” He’d noticed how the area lightened with dawn and darkened with sunset, each day identical, the shadows never varying, the level of light remaining consistent, which was impossible given they’d had more cloudy days than sunny of late.

As Pierrot’s fingers flew on his keyboard, he cursed. “Fucking hell, someone took that camera offline and has it playing a closed loop.”

“And you didn’t notice?” Sasha rebuked.

“No, I didn’t,” snarled Pierrot. “I don’t have time to watch the more than fifty camera feeds. I’ve got the ones outside the compound set to notify if the facial scan doesn’t recognize a person. Of course, that only works if they’re fucking recording.”

“How many cameras were taken offline?” Sasha asked, her tone tight.

“Three,” a grim Pierrot replied. “The one at the top end of the road leading into the compound, the west exit into the forest, and the one on the tunnel.”

“Can you use some of the other camera angles to see who’s gone through the west exit?” Diego asked.

“I don’t have a perfect blanket of all the areas. Didn’t think it was needed, but I might be able to piece something together. However, it will take a bit of time. Once the boys get back from their dinner, I’ll have them review footage while I try to find out who put the cameras on a loop. Once I figure it out, they’ll wish they’d walked into the sun themselves.” Pierrot’s cold promise.

“It has to be our traitor vamp.” Sasha crossed her arms, and Diego noticed her hands clenched into fists. She was pissed.

“Yeah, it’s most likely them because, until a week ago, no one but flock members could use the computers, and this appears to have started well before that.”

“Could it have been Anabel?”

Pierrot snorted. “Highly doubtful. She can barely use the apps on her phone. Whoever did this must have some serious hacking skills since they got past my firewalls without me noticing.”

“Anabel claims Jorge traded training for her forest patrols. Could be he’s our culprit?” A doubtful note hued Sasha’s statement.

Pierrot snorted. “Jorge is a lazy fucker whose idea of exercise is chain-smoking a few cigarettes while watching porn for an hour. I have a hard time believing he could pull off something so elaborate and strenuous. More likely, the traitor knew Jorge wouldn’t do his job and took advantage.”

“Tim?” She mentioned the last of Thaddeus’ core loyal group.

“It’s really not in Tim’s wheelhouse to just let bodies sit there.” Diego had learned that Tim was the one who burned down Moon Dew after they’d departed. Thaddeus’ resident pyromaniac was an asset to the flock, as he fully enjoyed destroying all evidence of vampirekind to keep them out of the public eye.

Not what Sasha wanted to hear, judging by her grimace. “Thanks for shooting down all the possible suspects.”

“I’m not saying it’s definitely not them, but it seems more likely they’re being used as a shield for the real culprit.” Pierrot offered his theory, and Sasha sighed.

“Until we can figure out who’s behind those murders, we need to keep this quiet. We don’t want the traitor to know we’re on to them.”

“In that case, better not clean up those bodies in the woods quite yet.”

Her lips pursed. “Wouldn’t matter if we did. They’ll know we found it since we messed up the pile.”

“I’d suggest fixing it, and when you do”—Pierrot reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a camera—“attach this to a tree so I can monitor.”

Sasha took the camera from him and headed for the door before stopping to ask, “What about Anabel? If I leave her locked up, it might tip off the traitor that we’re on to them.”

“Bring Bel to me. I’ll have her watching some old feeds. She’ll be very vested in proving her innocence,” Pierrot suggested.

“Okay, I’ll be right back. And it goes without saying that you’ll be monitoring her, just in case she is involved.”

“Obviously.” Pierrot’s dry drawl.

It didn’t take long for Anabel to be ensconced with Pierrot and for Sasha and Diego to run back to the bodies, stack them best as they could recall, and strap a camera to a tree.

As they returned to the compound, entering via the secret tunnel, Diego matched Sasha’s brisk and angry steps.

“What now, Shorty? Need to go a few rounds in the training ring to work off some frustration?”

She eyed him with fire in her eyes, and purred, “I can think of something more strenuous I’d rather do.”

The insinuation perked him up not just mentally but also below the belt. “Can I rinse off first?” The stench of death clung to him and didn’t scream sexy times.

“Only if you promise to soap every inch of me.”

He did. Lathering her from the toes all the way to her ears. As he worked the suds, he explored her body, fit and toned, the skin a pale contrast to his.

Her kiss was cool and minty but her passion a blazing inferno. When they tumbled into bed, she made sure he lay flat on his back. She sat astride, nails digging into his chest as she rode him, her breasts jiggling as she rolled and rocked her hips, her pussy a tight vise around his dick.

As they both approached the peak, she murmured, “You can bite me if you want. But be warned, my blood comes with side effects.”

A fact he already knew because Cyrus had told them of the bond that formed after he’d tasted her blood. They’d mated, or at least half-mated, not that Cyrus called it that. The man remained in denial, even though their kind knew full-well that a partial mating bond could be forged even with a one-way exchange that wasn’t consummated with sex.

But Diego wasn’t afraid. He’d known from the moment he met Sasha he wanted no other. He hoped, prayed really, she’d bite and bind him to her as his mate.

So, when their tempo turned frenzied and his cock readied to burst, he dragged her down for a kiss before sliding his lips to her throat and pressing them to the rapidly beating pulse.

When she cried out as she came, he claimed her, tasting her blood as his teeth pierced skin, coming hard as the bond formed between them, binding them until death did them part.